


Love can't be kept a National Secret

by breezyShenanigans



Category: Homestuck
Genre: F/F, F/M, M/M, Sadstuck, TW: Suicide, i'll add more when i think of them
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-08-25
Updated: 2014-06-22
Packaged: 2017-12-24 16:22:12
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,435
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/942035
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/breezyShenanigans/pseuds/breezyShenanigans
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Agent Dave Strider knew the consequences of falling in love while in this profession. He had seen it kill his brother. But what about if it just happens like an accident? Will he be able to keep him safe or will something awful happen?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

“Agent Strider, we need you to get some important files from a Mr. Karkat Vantas. He is close to the head of the terrorist group that is located in the Seattle, Washington area.” The woman took a breath and gave the shaded man before her a look. The kind of look that said if you do what I’m about to tell you not to do I will make sure your life is hell. “We need you to get close, but not that close. Is that understood?”

   
The blonde man looked up from his files that were spread out before him on the conference table and smirked up at her before nodding. This was going to be one of the easiest things he ever had to do. Drop a few lines and a few of his smoothest moves here and there, a bit of free sex and wa-la, there was the info that the United States needed.

  
A sigh came from his boss’s black painted lips. “I’m gonna need a drink after dealing with you.” She said dramatically, winking at him. Roxy Lalonde was the head of the Field Agents at the CIA, though she was their top hacker. “Well, I might as well get started on this. When does my plane leave?”

  
“You leave for Texas in the morning at 0800 hours and will leave there for Washington two days later. Are you up for this?” Concerned and unnaturally pink eyes looked over at the agent. He looked at her from behind his shades and nodded. “Of course I am. Never been more ready for an easy mission like this one.” He said, standing and brushing the imaginary lint off of his pants before gathering up the classified files. “Then, good luck Strider.”

  
He walked out of the briefing room, determined to walk out of the building so he could get ready to board his plane in the morning when the voice of his former partner came over to greet him. “What, going to go without saying goodbye to me?” He paused before looking over his shoulder at the one who asked him the question. Terezi Pyrope. Love had blinded her. Literally. Her love interest and mission had thrown some chemical into her eyes right before she had run away. “No, of course not.” The girl grinned over at him her blind eyes roaming over where she thought his face was, though it was mostly looking over at his ear.

  
“Dave, you should come over and visit more often. Desk work is a bitch.” Terezi complained, her grin not faltering even once. It was one of the things that unnerved him about her. Though she was the best damned partner he ever had. “Maybe one of these days. As of right now though, I’m heading back to Texas.” Her grin faltered for a moment before she reached out and leaned on him, her red eyes looking up at him over her red glasses. “Will you be ok going back there, cool kid?” She asked quietly, her voice reaching only his ears. He shrugged. He wasn’t about to think about that now. “I’ll be fine.” He said, giving her a one armed hug. “I’m Dave motherfucking Strider. How can I not be fine?” She snorted before patting his chest and quit leaning on him. “Whatever you say cool-kid, but, I’ll be watching you. I’m always watching.” She winked and cackled at him before walking back to her desk, her cane being a nuisance to everyone in her way  
He chuckled before beginning his long walk up to the front door of the building. Langley was a beautiful building, but the secrets inside were ever more precious than gold. He nodded to the guards up front and walked out into the beautiful sunshine. Well, it looked like it was going to be a good day.

  
He walked to his little rental car, well, little if you think a flashy Aston Martin is a little car. A shiny red convertible one with a leather interior. Yeah, little rental car indeed. He smirked at himself before climbing into it and driving out of the parking place and finally being free of all of the security and crap that plagued him as soon as he stepped foot onto the property. All he really wanted to do was get back to Texas, back to his apartment on the top floor and sit on the roof.

  
Dave arrived at his hotel room, tired but his mind still raced about what he had to do. He wouldn’t fall for this guy. This Karkat Vantas. No, he knew the consequences of such a thing. He knew them well, and like hell was he going to go through that. He wasn’t stupid. It would be like all of those useless flings he had before. Tavros, Nepeta, Eridan and hell, even Feferi. They were sex, a way to get out some stress while not having strings be attached. Karkat would be no different. He stripped down to his boxers and kept his gun and knife under his pillow and laid down comfortably on his stomach. Tomorrow morning would be the start of a new day and two days later he would be off to Seattle.

  
Little did he know that it would be his undoing to go there.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Planes and painful memories

Dave woke up to an average morning, where the sun was barely peaking up over the horizon, birds not even awake yet so there was none of that annoying chirping in the morning yet. He sat up and rubbed at his face for a moment, taking a second to wake up more fully. He didn't want to stub his toe on the dresser before he left. That would just fucking hurt. He stood up and blearily walked over to the bathroom and turning the shower on with the light off. He didn't want to deal with the sensitivety of his own eyes this early. He walked back out of the bathroom and grabbed his ipod. He was going to take a huge long shower. As though for a memorial or something. As an afterthought he grabbed his small speaker too. If he was going to be in there for a while he might as well have some music to help pass the time. He turned it on and a small smile crossed his features. These were the songs he had made with his brothers a few years back, like five or so. Broderek and Dirk Strider. His two brothers who made his life hell and worth living. 

He turned up the music and stepped into the hot stream. The music was pretty loud, but he wasn't concerned with bothering anyone else. He was about to go home for the first time in about two years. The water burned with the good kind of burn He stood under it before stepping out and grabbing the small bottle of shampoo that the hotels gave for you to use. He massaged it into his skull, enjoying the warmth of the water on his skin. This was really relaxing, the dropped beats and the water making him sleepy once again. Is that why Dirk too such long showers? Because he fell asleep in them? That would actually explain a lot. 

He rinsed it out of his hair before rubbing in conditoner into it before lathering up his lavender sponge with some Old Spice. He liked the mild and clean scent of it. Other things such as Axe or anything of the like made it seem like one was trying to cover up some kind of oder. Plus the conditioner made his hair soft. 

When he was done with all of that he decided to sit on the cooler bathroom floor and let the water rain down on him, like he was in a hot rainstorm. It was nice, just sitting there, not having a care in the world. Of course that was when his alarm went off and that alerted him that it was seven. He still had to get dressed and get to the airport and check out of the hotel. 

Shit. 

He stood up and turned off the water before hastily climbing out and drying off. He grabbed his ipod and his speaker as well as his dirty clothes before throwing them into his suitcase along with the rest of his clothes that he wasn't going to be wearing that day. He grabbed his favorite pair of black jeans before throwing them on with a pair of boxers and his favorite red record shirt. He slid his shades onto his face before grabbing his phone and his suitcase and flashstepping down the hall and down the stairs and walking normally to the front desk. "Hey, I need to check out." The short girl in front of him smiled cheerily up at him. "Alright, what room were you in?"

"4413." She typed it in before giving him a brilliant smile. " Thank you for staying with us, Mr. Megido. We hope you decide to stay with us again." He paused before nodding and heading out the door. Oh right. He was using that cover. He had slmost forgot. Aradia Megido, his pertner before Terezi. They were a dream team if they could even be called that. They could get things done in record time and when her sister, Damara, was assigned to their missions, they would be in and out in no time. Dave had thought he had found his soul mate in Aradia, but she had never wanted to be with him. She had wanted to be with Sollux Captor. The CIA's second best hacker to Roxy. Dave was fine with them being together. They were happy and quite obviously Dave and her were the best of friends. 

When Aradia was killed, Sollux had taken it pretty hard, though not as hard as Dave did.  It was on a mission where time was of the essense and he had taken a minute too long. The next thing he knew, there was a shot heard and Aradia had fallen against him, a shot in her stomach, blood pouring out of the wound. He had carried her to the safest place he knew there. She died in his arms. She begged him to let Sollux know that she was so sorry that she wouldn't be able to make their date later that week. It took Dave an hour to calm down enough to put back on his mask to call it in. 

It was a sucessful mission, but they had lost one of their greatest agents in the process. Sollux blamed Dave for it and he didn't care. He blamed himself for it too. Though the truth later came out. Equius Zahaak, one of the gadget makers, had placed a hidden gun in the vest in the vest she wore with a bullet aimed for her heart, though it had obviously missed. He was a double agent, working with the vicious terrorist group, SGRUB, to try and cripple the CIA and compromise them. He was pursued, but never captured. He always seemed to get away at the last second. Sollux spend most of his time tracking and hacking him, though so far he had come up with nothing. Dave had begun using Aradia's last name as a cover, with hopes of luring him out, but it hadn't worked so far. 

He shook his head and walked to the parking garage where his rental was waiting for him. What a way to start a day. Thinking about dead partners. He sighed and drove to the airport and turned in his rental before booking it to security. 

He had gotten through it barely in time before he had to flashstep to his plane. He made it just in time though and made his way over to his seat where a pretty, young girl was sitting there, asleep. She had long messy black hair and her round glasses were askew. She was kind of cute. He smiled at that thought nwardly before he shoved his bags in their respective places and brought out his pair of really expensive headphones so he could listen to music while they were in the air. 

Just as he was about to put them over his ears, the girl woke up. Well she had an amazing pair of bright green eyes. He had never seen that kind of green on anyone before. she yawned cutely before adjusting her glasses and stretching. When she noticed him staring, she smiled brightly at him. "Hello!!" She said, he could basically see a tail wagging at him. "My name is Jade! Jade Harley. What's yours?" He paused for a moment before deciding to give her his cover for this trip. "Dean. Dean Megido." She smiled at him again and looked like she wanted to talk to him some more, though her eyes rolled back and she fell back into her chair, fast asleep. The girl must be Narcoleptic. Awesome. 

He shrugged, not really minding that their conversation was cut short. The plane taxied out of the termnal and then took off, prompting Dave to put on his headphones and settling in for a long ride. He really hoped that Jade wouldn't bother him while he had them on. He hated when people did that. 

The flight was uneventful. Jade woke up and fell back asleep a few more times before she wrote down on a piece of paper. She "sneakily" put it in his pants pocket, though he wasn't about to ran on that parade. He let it slide, not reaching for it immediately. As the plane landed, they both got up and off the plane. "Maybe I'll see you around! Bye, Dean!" She said, before walking down the hallway, a flight attendant with her in case she fell asleep again. 

He pulled out the piece of paper and read what was on it. He chuckled lowly.  _"hey cool kid Y_ _ou should pester me!! my chumhandle is gardenGnostic i hope to hear from you!! :D"  
_

He stuffed itback into his pocket before walking through the terminal and pulling out his phone. Might as well call that number now. He hadn't called it since he had left home to go to the CIA. He pressed the call button and waited for the other person at the end to answer. "Hey. Yeah, it's me. Yes, I'm aive and I know I'm in deep shit right now. I have something to tell you. Ok. Ok. I'll be at the airport. Yeah, in Dallas. Ok. See you soon." He hung up and walked outside, a wave of heat crashing over him. It made him smile. He was finally home. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahhhh so many kind comments~ you guys are too sweet!


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dave sees Bro for the first time in years. There is some explaining to do.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I AM SO SORRY I never thought I would take this long to type up a chapter. God, almost a year....I promise it wont take me this long next time.

A truck growled its way up to the enterance of the terminal where the shaded blonde was waiting. Anime shades in place, Broderik honked his horn alerting the other to his presence. Said brother's head jerked up at the sound and nodded at him.

  
It was time to get to the bottom of this. 

Dave sighed. This was awkward . Like really awkward. The silence was almost overwhelming. When he had climbed into the truck, hardly a word was said, just a nod to the other. He wasn't sure if he strife with Bro or just start talking or what. Luckily they got home quickly before he could let his thoughts wander too much.  
"Here, let me help you out there." Bro grabbed Dave's bags and started to go into the building, a smirk on his face. "Race ya." Dave smirked back. "You are so on."  Dave started up the stairs, going the fastest he could with his flash step, careful of other people around them. Bro had no such reservations. He passed Dave, jumping over a baby carriage, looking back with the patented Strider smirk. With that it was like he was not even there at all, all that was heard was a opening and closing of a door with a lock put on it.

  
The youngest Strider stood in front of the door, contemplating picking the lock when it clicked unlocked. He cautiously opened the door, looking around for any sign of Bro. There was none, but that did little to settle the caution that he expressed as he stepped fully into the room, noticing the puppet on the futon, a remote in its hand. He shut the door, with his back against it, locking it. Never show your back to the enemy. Ever. He took a step forward and froze as a soft squeak come from under his foot. He froze, looking around. Smuppets ittered the floor, looking like minefields. No one came out with a shitty sword out at him, so he figured that one mistake would slide.

  
He walked stealthily across the room, imagining the smuppets to be the mines they used in his training. He didn't step on any of them after his imagination took that imagry up. He reached his destination after a few close calls. His old room. He pushed open his old door and was shocked to find his room from when he was 18 still the way it was.  
He strode over to Dirk's room and threw open the door. Everything was still the same as it was when they left. He brought a hand to cover his mouth as he looked at everything kept perfectly. It was like they still lived here. Like Dirk had never...

  
"I kept it the way you guys had it before you suddenly left. I kept cleaning and shit, but you two never came back." Dave turned to see Bro leaning against the wall, the normal straight face on. "Let's talk." Bro pushed himself off the wall and walked into the living room, Dave reluctantly following behind.

  
Bro sat down on the end of the futon with Lil Cal while Dave sat on the other end, feigning interest in his nails and the table. "Dave, what happened?"  
"I can't tell you." Bro raised an eyebrow. "Can't or wont?" Dave glanced over at him. "Can't." Bro gave the T.V. a thoughtful look. "You know, it's probably not as bad as a drug dealer. You aren't hanging around with those types are you?" Dave shook his head. "No, nothing like that."

  
"You know what would be crazy? If you and Dirk went off and were doing the exact same thing. What was it that you guys wanted to do again? When you guys were like ten? Oh, right become secret agents and work for the CIA? How funny would that be?" Dave stiffened, not enough for normal people to notice, but enough for Bro to notice. Dave snickered. "Yeah, crazy huh?"

  
"Yeah, if it wasn't so obviously true." Dave looked at Bro sharply, his expression unreadable. "Look, you don't have to say anything. I dont want you to get in trouble. Just use the Strider code for yes and no." Dave looked at Bro, since he was taking off his shades. The unspoken rule, when one Strider took off their shades, the others did as well. So Dave slid his shades to the top of his head.

  
Bro cleared his throat. "Ok, So you work for the Center of Idiotic Analogies?" That made Dave smirk and blink once slowly. "No, we DJ Bro. Well, I also direct movies." Dave had recently taken on one of Dirk's aliases to try and close in on one of his targets, but it hadn't been very successful.

  
"What happened to Dirk or is he coming later?" Dave paused. This was one of the things he had come back to deal with, but not this soon. "He's...He's not coming back. Ever." Bro looked taken aback. "What? Was it something I did?" Dave had never seen Bro in anything other than a cocky smirk or a smug grin. "No, he's...Bro." Dave's voice broke and his eyes began to water. "He's not coming back because...because he's dead." The silence settled over them as Dave struggled to keep the poker face on while his eyes were swimming.  "What happened?"

  
"I don't know all of the details. All we got at the office was his body." Tears had spilled over the top and were now making their way down smooth pale cheeks. He hadn't allowed himself to properly greive for his brother yet and this was only the beginning. It still haunted him. DNA was how they figured out who the body belonged to. It had been mailed to them in a huge freezer bag. When the headless body had been opened it was completely naked. Naked with things carved into it. A Betty Crocker Tident and a weird U with a ~ in the middle was branded into it.

  
Roxy had sent for DNA testing while they looked at the body. Dave had come in before the results were back, but he knew who it was. He knew quite a few of those scars. He had put them there as growing boys. He pushed his way over to the body, choking back tears. This was his brother. This was Dirk Strider's body.

  
When the DNA results came back he didn't give into the crushing greif. Not there. Not where it was full of people who wouldn't get it. He hurried away with the intent on pulling up files when he was stopped. "Dave, wait." A hand grabbed at his arm and he looked over at Rose Lalonde. She was looking at him with worry plain in her Lavender eyes. "Im so sorry for your loss. Are you alright?" Terezi was behind her, her blind eyes looking around where his mouth was. He sighed and nodded tersely, pulling away from Rose's grasp. He walked away, searching for one person he knew would help him. Roxy was too busy trying to figure out how this happened, yelling at people, trying to safely extract other agents in the same mission that Dirk was involved in.

  
He found Sollux on his computer, half blind from being on the computer non-stop. Sollux was obsessing over finding Equius and killing him. Dave walked up behind him and watched as Sollux paused. "What ith it?" He lisped, going back to typing. "I need to find out where Dirk was and what he was doing on his assignment."  
"Why the fuck do you need to know that?"

  
"Because his headless body came to us in the mail and is in the mourge by now." Sollux leaned back until he was staring at Dave upside down. He searched Dave's face foor any sign that he was kidding, but he couldn't find any. "It'th pretty fucking clathified. He wath in deep cover. Not much contact with the outthide world." He said as he tried to bring it up, not having too much success. "Thit. Thorry dude." He said, turning around in his swivel chair and loosening his tie. Dave sighed before shrugging. "Thanks." He said before turning to leave.

  
That's when Roxy made him take those few days off and gave him the current assignment. Dave finished his story, leaving names out and using only their positions to describe them. Bro was staring blankly at nothing in particular and Dave had calmed down enough to put on his poker face.

  
"Get your sword." Dave looked up in time to see Bro putting on his shades and disappearing out the door. He slowly stood up and grabbed his sword from off the wall and slid his shades back over his eyes. He twirled the sword in his hand before beginning the treck up to the roof.

  
As he reached his destination, he could see his brother looking over the horizon. The setting sun was setting the stage for the strife ahead of them. Bro turned, the sun glinting off of his shades as he got into position. Dave took his own fighting stance before they launched at each other. Dave kept low, swinging for the others legs. Bro anticipated that and jumped up, dodging it and swinging his sword down, narrowly missing Dave by centimeters. Dave's eyes widened a fraction before he swung around, trying to get the older man while he landed. No such luck. Bro rolled in a forward roll and turned on his heel before becoming a blur.

  
Shit. 

Dave looked for the shine of the blade reflecting the sun. He blocked the seemingly out of nowhere strike with a clang of steel on steel. Bro grunted with approval before attacking once more. Dave threw himself out of the way before countering though he changed how it was at the last possible moment. He got a slim cut on Bro's cheek. Said brother jumped back a fair distance before touching the spot on his face and looking at the blood that was on his index finger. "Not bad." He said before disappearing and reappearing in front of the not quite startled Dave. A cocky smirk danced on the eldest's Strider's face before he vanished. 

Fuck. 

Dave was on complete defence, blocking attacks from all sides though he was being pushed back. He tripped on one of the bricks that littered the roof. His back hit the cement and there was a sword at his neck. "You did good. Better than I was expecting." Bro held out his hand to help Dave up. He accepted the outstretched hand and let him pull him up. "So, where does the place having you go next?" Dave shrugged. "Can't tell you more than Washington." Bro nodded before scratching the back of his head. "Just...come home before you go back to them. Or at least try to." Dave nodded before walking to the door that led back down the stairs. He was headed for Dirk's katana. He spotted it on its place on the wall before grabbing it and heading back to the roof. Each step the sword seemed to get heavier, carrying all of the memories that Dave had of Dirk.  
Once he arrived on the roof, he made himself comfortable. He stayed there the rest of the day and all night. The vigile was something he thought Dirk deserved. Plus he would probably laugh at him if he knew he was doing it.

  
 _"Hey bro, be careful."_  
 _"I will. Take care of English for me."_  
 _"I don't know who the fuck that is."_  
 _"I'll introduce you later. I think I may have found the one, Dave."_  
 _"Whatever, Dirk. Just hurry back, ok?"_  
 _"Of course I will. I promise. A Strider never breaks a promise."_

A sigh escaped Dave's lips. "You lied."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As it gets sadder by the minute....oh well.

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first attempt at writing a multi chapter fic for homestuck so hopefully it doesn't suck too badly.


End file.
